Game or puzzle



H. HOFFMANN GAME OR PUZZLE Oct. 23, 1934.

Filed Feb. 25. 1933' 5 Sheets-Sheet l fvvz/vme HENRY HOFFMHNN rmelvey Oct. 23, 1934.

H. HOFFMANN GAME OR PUZZLE s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25 1935 m z W NE MM k. 6 0 a wws Q 5 273 3 3 1% 64 ,724 a 0451 I 1 H. HOFFMANN GAME OR PUZZLE Oct. 23, 1934.

Filed Feb. 25, 1933 5 Sheefts-Sheet 5 llzlver HaFFMA/wv upon which is delineated a basepattern, scheme Patented Oct. 23, 1934 GAME 0R PUZZLE Henry Hofimann, St. Louis, Mo. Application February23, 1933, Serial No. 657,953

5 Claims.

This invention relates to games or puzzles of the matched pattern type. i

One object of the invention is to provide in a game or puzzle of this kind a boardor ground or puzzle lay-out tobe matched or reconstructed, anda plurality of men{ or play pieces for correctlylaying over the base pattern, each man or piece bearing digits, figuresletters, characters,

0 indicia. or markings corresponding or answering to or indicating that portion of the base pattern immediatelyunderlying the said man or play piece as correctly placed, whereby through the correct placing of the play pieces upon the underlying pattern, side by side, end to end or end toside the said base pattern or puzzle lay-out will be reproduced or represented or reconstructed upon thecombined upper surfaces of the said fmen or play pieces.

Another object is to provide in such game or puzzle, means for varying, shifting or changing the base or puzzle pattern so as to'constantly provide and present newproblems or puzzles in the ,way of new base patterns for working out or solving through the superimposed I men or play pieces.

, Another object is to provide in combination a board for supporting a basepattern or puzzle lay-out, and a plurality of equal, elongated, rectilinear puzzle blocks ofa ,lengthsubstantially twice their transverse dimension, each block bearing upon its co-equal sides. the same figures, digits, letters or characters but differently posisio nedor arranged, the different blocks however carrying distinctivesets of such figures, letters.

or characters, so that by turning the blocks with the desired sides uppermost, and positioning them upon the-board side by side, end to end, or end to side, a, continuous and uniform base pattern maybe formedat their combined upper surfaces,

an apertured cover plate for laying over the base pattern so formed, the same serving to reveal throughits apertures the said figures, letters or characters on the blocks, while at the same time concealing at its webs or solid portions the joints of the contiguous blocks, and a plurality of flat, rectilinear men or, play pieces of a length and width slightly less than the length and transverse dimension of the said blocks, so as to pro-,

vide a clearance between them in placing them upon the board, the said play pieces bearing upon their upper faces digits, indicia,,figures or characters corresponding or answering to or indicating the digits, figures, letters, characters or indicia of thefsaid blocks, whereby by properly placing or positioning the play pieces upon the apertured cover plate over the underlying pattern formed by the blocks, that entire pattern may be reconstructed or represented and shown upon the upper faces of the said play, pieces.

so A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in'the accompanying drawings, which constitute a part of this specification, and wherem Figure l is. a perspective view of an assembly comprising one form of my invention, one corner thereof being broken awayto show the formation and arrangement of the elements. Aplay piece is shown spaced above the assembly as in process of locating thereon Figure 2 is a plan view of the base or game board.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the base board as loaded with ajplurality of puzzle blocks set up to form a puzzle pattern. i

Figure 4 is a plan view of the assembly of Figure 3, with an apertured cover plate placed thereover for concealing the joints of the puzzle blocks forming the puzzle pattern, while revealing the figures thereon, the marginal retaining frame being also shown,

Figure 5 is a detail of a fragment of the apertured cover plate. I Figure 6 is a detail of a fragment of one form of retaining frame.

Figure 7 is a view showingin plan the figures of a sample four-sided puzzle block, showing the same figures or digits as variously arranged at the four sides.

Figure 8 is a plan view of several of the blocks as arranged in juxtaposition at sides and ends in the making up of a puzzle pattern as formed upon the game'board.

Figure 9 is (a similar plan view of several of the play pieces as similarly arranged in'juxtapo- 'sition at their sides and ends, upon the apertured cover plate over the blocks, in the working out oithepuzzle pattern as formed upon the upper surfaces of the combined blocks.

Figure 10 includes perspective views of the four sides of one of the blocks as provided with additional medial markings as means for regulating the complication of the puzzle lay-out or pattern.

, Figure 11 is a detail of the modified form of 105 block for forming the underlying puzzle pattern.

Figure 12 is a detail view in perspective of the twosides of a simpler, fiat form of puzzle block, for use in lieu of the four-sided blocks.

In carrying out this invention, I provide a suit- 11g raised margins. A plurality of elongated, rectangular blocks are provided, the same being either square in cross section and of a length exactly double their transverse dimension as shown at 4, or else merely fiat as shown at 411. These blocks are all uniform and co-equal in size so asto be mutually interchangeable. Atv medial points upon each end of each of the elongated, rectangular sides of each block are printed or otherwise shown certain figures, digits, letters, characters, indicia, or any desired pattern or config-' uration, such as the figures 3-7 as shown on the sample block represented in the drawings,

the figure 3 being shown at one end and the figure '7 at the other end. It willbe noted that each of the sides of each individual block carries the same figures but differently arranged-andpositioned thereupon; that is to say, in the square blocks 4 the figures or digits upon twoof. the sides are arranged to read normally with the block turned horizontally, but are reversed in order, while upon the other two sides the same figures or digits are arranged to read normally with the block turned up endwise to the player, or vertical ly, but are likewise reversed in order on these" two sides. In the fiat blocks 4a however, the variety of arrangement is necessarily reduced by half, so that the digits'can be shown as increasing or decreasing in value from left to right on one'side, and from top to bottom on the other side. It will now be noted that by virtue of the different pos-' sible positions of the puzzle blocks, in' which they may be rectilinearly arranged, a plurality of blocks may be readily laid upon the board side by. side, end to end or end to side and turned soas to present at their combined upper surfaces a continuous, uniform and normal positioning for reading or interpreting the figures, digits, characters or other markings thereon, in either of two directions perpendicular to each other, as horizontally or up and down. And except for the joints or breaks visible between adjacent or contiguous blocks, it would be impossiblefor an observer to know without calculation or trial,,to just which of any two contiguous blocks, any certain figure, digit, character or the like belonged 'or upon which block it was printed or shown. In other words, except for such visible joints, the observer would be unable to mentally distinguish or separate the blocks, or individuallyidentify them. Thus by arranging a complete ,1 pattern or puzzle layout by positioning a plurality ofthe puzzle blocks upon the board in the manner described, and as represented in Figure 1, and by then providing some means for coveringforconcealing the said joints between theblocks, it is apparent that the puzzle pattern will be complete and effective. For this purpose, a cover plate 10 is provided to fit "down within the raised margins 2 of the board 1, the same being pierced with apertures 11 regularly spaced apart in two perpendicular directions paralleling its rectilinear margins an'dso that the apertures will fall directly'over the figures, digits or characters'carried upon the'blocks, while the intervening connecting websor' solid portions 12 of this plate fall upon the joints of the blocks and serve to effectually cover and conceal the same from view. A retaining frameS may then be set down over the raised margins of, the board for conveniently holding the assembly together and even making it foolprootby additionofa locking device not shown. A plurality of men or play pieces 13 are provided, equal in number to the number of the blocks 4 or 4a. used in the making up of the puzzle pattern or lay-out, all of uniform and co-equal dimensions, the same being preferably fiat and rectilinear and similar in length and width to the length and transverse dimension of the blocks 4 or 4a. In other words, the length of each play piece is twice its width and only slightly less than the length of the said blocks for the sake of clear ance. These play pieces are printed or otherwise marked upon one or both of their two flat sides several blocks combined as aforesaid to make up the puzzle lay-out or pattern. For these men or play pieces only one arrangement of the digits or characters is'required, as it is immaterial in the .working out of the puzzle whether they are turned vertically, horizontally or up-side down. Y

In the use or operation of the game or puzzle as thus far described, a plurality of the blocks 4 or 4a. are provided to the required number, and each is individually differentiated by means of pairs of figures, digits or any characters desired imprinted medially at'the ends of the rectilinear sides of the blocks as already pointed out, and a corresponding number of the play pieces are then provided and printed upon their sides with figures, digits or other characters to correspond to or indicate or suggest the corresponding blocks as laid out on the boardto form the puzzle layout, there being thus a separate man or play piece answering to each separate block and to that block alone. There are no duplicate blocks, and consequently of course, no duplicate men. In making up or marking the blocks, it is found in practice that pairs of numbers are the more convenient method, in simulation of the method of marking dominoes except that figures are used in lieu of dots. Thus the blocks may be marked 0-0; 0l; 02; 03; 0-4; 0-5; 0-6; 1-1; 1- 2; 1-3; 1-4; 15; 1-6; 2-2; 23; 2-4; 25; 2-6; up to 6-6; etc., or as desired. Complete sets. of blocks within a certain range or scheme of marking, are best suited to the requirements of the game. r V 1 With a puzzle lay-out spread upon the board in manner already pointed out and covered with the cover plate which conceals the joints of the blocks, the working or solving of the puzzle then consists in taking the play pieces and placing each upon the cover plate immediately over the underlying and corresponding blocks so as to reproduce or represent upon the upper surfaces of the combined play pieces the underlying puzzle pattern or lay-outlcarried on the upper surfaces of the blocks. And in this process regard must be had both to the correct directional positioning of the men? or play pieces, to correspond with the lines of extension of the underlaying blocks and also to the correct ending of the men to correspond with the ending of the blocks and so that the figures or marking upon the ends' of the play pieces will register in point of value with the corresponding figures or marking upon the ends of the blocks, thereby correctly working out and completing the underlying puzzle layout. As before suggested, in the placing of the men in thesolvingof a puzzle it does not matter how the digits or figures read, whether upright or otherwise. The player may easily ,verify the correctness of his solutionby merely lifting off the apertured cover plate with the play pieces 1,978,107 I undisturbed thereupon and comparing; the arrangement of the play pieces with the arrangemerit of the blocks as thus uncovered. -New puzzle patterns may beformed at will by mixing up the blocks 4 or 4a andrearranging them into new puzzle patterns inmanner described. The puzzle may be solvedsolely thru a method of repeated trials in the placing of the men or through some system of checking upon a schematic table of figures, all the possible locations-or positions in which each man may be arranged.

If desired means may be provided for simplifying the puzzle lay-outs of the blocks 4 as for children. One way of doing this consists in placing differentiating markings medially upon the four sides of these blocks, as shown at 14 in Figure 10. For instance by turning upward the faces showing the circles and triangles in reverse order, a two-way puzzle is provided, the smaller digits being always at the left hand or at top of the blocks in the lay-out. This puzzle may be solved with relative ease thru the corresponding logical facing of the men.

Adding to a certain number of the blocks thus turned, other blocks with those sides turned up which are marked with either the circles alone or the triangles alone, makes the three-way puzzle, which is of course somewhat more difficult,

as such markings indicate that there are blocks in the puzzle lay-out whereon the larger digits are at the left hand or on top, the reverse of the previous arrangement. And of course by ignoring these markings entirely and laying the puzzle blocks indiscriminately, the most complex form of puzzle lay-out is provided for solving, as all logical rules of guidance are thrown aside.

In lieu of the blocks 4 or 4a, a flat rectilinear block 4b as shown in Figure 11, may be used, the same being cut out or circularly recessed at its ends, as shown at 15, and then rotatively mounting numbered discs 16 within these recesses. By rotating these discs, it is apparent the digits on such blocks may be turned to read normally 45 desired. They are useful in devising various forms and outlines of puzzle lay-outs;

While I have herein described a certain specific manner and method of constructing and assembling the elements of my invention, it is understood that I may vary from the same in minor details, not departing from the spirit of my invention, so as best to construct a practical device for the purpose intended, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. In combination, a board for supporting a base pattern or puzzle lay-out, and a plurality of equal, elongated, rectilinear blocks of square cross section and of a length exactly twice their transverse dimension, each block bearing upon its four co-equal sides the same figures, digits,

letters or characters but differently positioned or arranged, the different blocks, however, carrying distinctive sets of such figures, letters or characters, so that by turning the blocks with the desired sides uppermost, and positioning them upon the board side by side, end to end, or end to side, a continuous and uniform base pattern may be formed at their combined upper surfaces, an apertured cover plate for the base pattern so formed, the same serving to reveal through its apertures the said figures, lettersfor characters on the blocks, While at the same time concealing at its webs or solid portions the joints/of the contiguous blocks, and a plurality of flat, rectilinear me or play pieces of a length and width similar to the length and transverse dimension of the said blocks, the said: play pieces bearing upon their upper faces indicia, figures or characters corresponding or answering to or indicating the figures, letters, characters or indicia of the said blocks, whereby by properly placing or positioning the play pieces upon the apertured cover plate over the underlying pattern formed by the blocks, that entire pattern may be reconstructed or represented and shown upon the upper faces of the said play pieces.

2. In a device of the kind described, a plurality of flat, elongated, co-equal, rectangular blocks, of a length double their transverse dimension, there being substantially identical markings upon the two faces of each block, the markings of the various blocks however being distinctive and turned rectilinearly to difierent positions upon each face, the blocks being arrangeable rectilinearly side by side, end to end or end to side to form a continuous and uniform pattern at their combined upper surfaces, an apertured cover plate for the pattern so formed the same having apertures to reveal the markings of the blocks and webs to conceal the joints thereof, and a plurality 'of play pieces for arranging upon the cover plate the same being marked co-ordinately with the markings of the blocks.

3. In a device of the kind described, a plurality of flat, elongated, co-equal, rectangular blocks of a length double their transverse dimension, each block being distinctively marked upon its two, elongated rectangular sides medially of each end portion, the said marks being turned rectilinearly to different positions upon each face, so that upon the rectilinear juxtaposition of any two blocks side by side, end to end, or end to side, markings upon the two blocks may be turned uppermost having directional uniformity on rectilinear lines, and a cover plate for blocks arranged as stated, the same being apertured to reveal the marks of the underlying blocks while concealing at its webs the joints thereof, and a plurality of play pieces for arranging upon the cover plate the same being marked co -ordinately with the markings of the blocks.

4. Ina device of the kind described, an elongated, rectilinear block of a length double its width, there being substantially identical markings upon each elongated, rectilinear side of the block medially of each end portion, the said markings being turned rectilinearly to different positions upon each side, so that upon the rectilinear juxtaposition of a plurality of blocks side by side, end to end, or end to side, markings upon the blocks may be turned uppermost having directional uniformity on rectilinear lines, and a cover plate for a plurality of said blocks arranged as indicated, the platebeing apertured to reveal the markings of the underlying blocks, and a plurality of play pieces for arranging upon the cover plate the same being marked to correspond to the markings of the blocks.

5. In combination, a plurality of co-equal,

joints of contiguous blocks, and a plurality of flat, rectilinear men of a length and width similar to the length and transverse dimension of the said blocks and carrying at their upper faces markings corresponding to the markings upon the sides of the blocks.

HENRY HOFFMANN. 

